


The Only Two Children On Board

by VampirePaladin



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Kid Fic, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-04 22:37:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21205214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/pseuds/VampirePaladin
Summary: When Yondu discovered what Ego was doing he took Mantis from him and didn't hand over Peter.  This is how Mantis and Peter might have met in that scenario.





	The Only Two Children On Board

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NekoMida](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoMida/gifts).

Mantis hadn’t spoken to him yet. She’d seen the boy, the Terran, when he was brought on board and he’d been taken to one of the rooms to be locked up. It’s not that he could get away in the middle of space, but it kept him out from under foot. 

She’d heard whispers between Yondu and Kraglin. Something different had happened the last time they visited Ego. Mantis didn’t know what, but when she had brushed against them, she had felt disgust, horror, and shame. The shame was directed at themselves. She didn’t know what it all meant; all she knew was that the Terran boy would be staying here.

“Hey girl, why don’t you take the boy somethin’ to eat,” Yondu shouted over at Mantis.

She nodded. “Alright.”

Mantis scurried down to the galley and go a tray of tonight’s dinner. It was some type of stew and biscuits. 

Outside of the room the Terran boy was being kept in, Mantis knocked on the door.

“Go away,” sniffled the voice inside.

“I’m supposed to bring you food,” Mantis said.

The door opened and out poked the head of the Terran boy. He had a curious contraption around his neck, a curved piece of material with soft discs on the ends.

“I am Mantis. I have brought you food.”

“They said they’re going to eat me.”

Mantis frowned. “I have not seen them eating Terrans before. Is that why you are crying?”

The boy sniffled again and shook his head. He did step back from the door and let it open wider to let Mantis in. She set the food on an old metal table.

“Mom’s dead,” the boy said softly.

“Oh, I never knew my mother.” She held out her hand. “Can I touch you?”

He looked at her in confusion before nodding his head. Mantis reached out and touched, feeling the depths of his grief over losing the woman he loved and admired more than anyone else. She could also feel love, both his love for his mother, and the safety her love for him he’d felt. She also felt shame, something she wasn’t expecting.

“Why are you ashamed?”

“Huh?”

“I can feel people’s emotions when I touch them. You feel sadness, love, and shame. Why?”

The boy sat down on the edge of his messy bed. “’Cause I ran away when she wanted me with her. I was scared and I thought if I didn’t see it, she couldn’t leave me.”

She thought about how she used to help Ego sleep when he couldn’t, at least until the day that Yondu had last visited him. He’d grabbed Mantis on his way back to his ship and took her away, even as she screamed. Ego hadn’t lifted a finger to get her back.

“Yondu took also took me where I grew up from. What’s your name?”

The boy looked at the small device he held, there were buttons on it and a little glass window where one could see a pair of circles. It was attached to the device around his neck with a cord. “Star-Lord.”


End file.
